Boundary Element Analysis of Accelerated Chloride Diffusion in High Performance Concrete

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze accelerated chloride diffusion in high performance concrete (HPC) blended with mineral admixture by using boundary element method (BEM). Rapid chloride permeability test (RCPT) was employed and executed. The experiment proves that the highest resistance to chloride permeability can be acquired in the quaternary-blended concretes (ordinary portland cement + fly ash + blast furnace slag + silica fume). A chloride diffusion BEM model was established according to the diffusion coefficient calculated from the charge passed. The numerical solutions agree with experiments well. It can be inferred that the acceleration degree of RCPT is not the same in different mix proportion. Besides, the results also suggest that the low chloride permeability of the concretes with mineral admixtures may be attributed to the lower diffusion coefficient and the lower surface chloride concentration.